Presto Editor's Choice
November 2020
Gramophone Magazine
February 2021
Editor's Choice
Georg Nigl (baritone)
Olga Pashchenko (piano)
Schubert: Im Freien D880
Schubert: Die Sommernacht, D289 (Klopstock)
Schubert: Die Taubenpost, D965A (D957 No. 14)
Schubert: Die Forelle, D550
Schubert: Der Wanderer an den Mond D870 (Seidl)
Schubert: Das Zugenglocklein D871 (Seidl)
Schubert: Abendstern, D806
Schubert: Fischerweise, D881 (Schlechta)
Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte (To the distant beloved), Op. 98
Rihm: Vermischter Traum
Schubert: Der Winterabend (Es ist so still), D938
Schubert: Die Sterne, D939 (Leitner)
Schubert: An die Musik D547
Schubert: Wandrers Nachtlied II 'Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh', D768
Schubert: Erlafsee D586 (Mayrhofer)
Schubert: Abschied D475 (Mayrhofer)
Like the paintings of the Flemish Baroque painters, the ‘vanities’ presented here can be approached in two ways: on the one hand, as manifestations of doubts and anxieties at the fragility of human life; on the other, as delights to be savoured without moderation, celebrating earthly life through the senses and the pleasure that human beings can derive from them. After two critically acclaimed recordings each for Alpha, the baritone Georg Nigl and the pianist Olga Pashchenko explore the tortuous meanders of the human soul with vocal works by Schubert (an ‘existentialist’ composer if ever there was one), Beethoven (whose torments hardly need stressing) and the contemporary composer Wolfgang Rihm, whose highly expressionistic Jakob Lenz (ALPHA717) Nigl performed on stage in 2019. His piece Vermischter Traum, here given its world premiere, is dedicated to the Austrian singer.
"The voice – a distinctive instrument offering a hint of Christian Gerhaher’s refined artlessness and some of the pleasingly acidic tang of Wolfgang Holzmair – changes according to the accompaniment: feathery and intimate with fortepiano, declamatory and full with piano...All in all, this is a beguiling, intelligent and supremely sensitive recital, which continues to resonate long after its last note has died away. Highly recommended." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2021.
